Bad Losses: 11/22 at Murray State
(61-89), 1/8 at Florida International (79-81), 1/24 at Denver (74-78)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2008, Sweet
Sixteen loss to UCLA

Coach: Ken McDonald (First NCAA
appearance)

Why They Can Surprise:

Western Kentucky lost a few superstars on
the perimeter who led them into the Sweet Sixteen last year, but that
has not set back the production of the unit. In fact, this group is much
more dangerous from long range. A.J. Slaughter and Orlando Mendez-Valdez
are both great passers and ball handlers and they are also two very
effective scorers and shooters. Slaughter has more of an interior game
than Mendez-Valdez who spends a majority of his time on the perimeter,
but those two combine to hit five three-pointers per contest.

The other outside shooting threat is
Steffphon Pettigrew. The 6-5 sophomore will mostly use his size to get
to the basket, but he is not opposed to mixing up his offensive game by
hitting a long ball or two. Pettigrew’s size on the wing and ability to
hit the glass is one of the main reasons why the Hilltoppers are a solid
rebounding team.

Why They Can Disappoint:

WKU is a good shooting team, but they allow
the opposition to shoot nearly as well as them in every category. The
opposition connects on 43.3 percent of their shots from the floor and
34.6 percent from beyond the arc. Those are not horrible numbers, but
they are pretty bad and the Hilltoppers cannot let a more talented team
shoot that well from the floor and expect to win the game. The other
concern is the team’s lack of depth. Most of the time first year head
coach Ken McDonald will run a seven or eight man rotation. Eight is
generally a good number, but Slaughter and Mendez-Valdez need a break at
some point and the quality depth in the backcourt is pretty much
non-existent after Anthony Sally.

Who To Watch:

Technically, Sergio Kerusch is a wing, but
the 6-5 sophomore bangs around the paint like a big man. His 7.4
rebounds per game is the best on the team and his versatile scoring
makes him tough to guard. Kerusch has been playing his best basketball
late in the season and he tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds in a game
against Florida International in late February. His frontcourt mate is
Jeremy Evans. Evans is a more traditional post player and averages 8.7
points and 5.9 rebounds per contest.Evans is also the lone shot
blocking threat on the team and the team’s defense improves when he is
on the floor.

Probable Starters:

A.J. Slaughter, Junior, Guard, 15.8 ppg, 3.6
apg

Orlando Mendez-Valdez, Senior, Guard, 14.0
ppg, 4.0 apg, 4.1 rpg

Steffphon Pettigrew, Sophomore, Guard, 12.7
ppg, 5.1 rpg

Sergio Kerusch, Sophomore, Guard, 11.2 ppg,
7.4 rpg

Jeremy Evans, Junior, Forward, 8.7 ppg, 5.9
rpg, 1.8 bpg

Key Roleplayers:

D.J. Magley, Sophomore, Forward, 2.5 ppg,
2.5 rpg

Anthony Sally, Junior, Guard, 4.1 ppg, 2.7
apg

Mike Walker, Senior, Forward, 0.7 ppg, 1.8
rpg

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 71.9 (105th in
nation, 3rd in conference)

Scoring Defense: 66.6 (140, 5)

Field-Goal Percentage: 44.8 (115, 6)

Field-Goal Defense: 43.3 (167, 4)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 7.8 (50,
3)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 37.1 (60,
3)

Free-Throw Percentage: 69.5 (145, 6)

Rebound Margin: 4.8 (42, 2)

Assists Per Game: 13.2 (149, 5)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.6 (150, 8)

Following the
Bracket announcement, more team info will be added, including final
RPI, final team statistical rankings, Joel's prediction, and more!

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About Joel Welser

ColumnistCollege Preview Editor

Contactjwelser@collegehoops.net

Background

"Joel Welser does a tremendous job covering college basketball. He gives his readers knowledgeable and insightful information on college hoops." -Ernie Zeigler, Head Basketball Coach, Central Michigan University "Joel Welser writes clean, knowledgeable copy that always hits deadline." -Greg Eno, former editor-in-chief, Motor City Sports Magazine Growing up in Michigan, Joel Welser inherited a love for Big Ten sports. After defying all family traditions and not going to Michigan State, Joel headed out west to earn his bachelor degree from California State University, Northridge in Cinema Television Arts, specializing in screenwriting. For reasons still unknown, after his stint in Hollywood, Joel headed back to Michigan where he remains to this day complaining about the cold. Joel has found a successful formula with the popular top 144 series at collegehoops.net and has also written college football and college basketball previews and articles for various websites and magazines.